Post-pandemic the city has witnessed a 31 per cent rise in COVID-19 cases in the last 15 days (October 6 to 14). As per the data, 1,305 cases have been recorded from October 6 to 14 compared to 996 from September 27 to October 5. Moreover, on average10 people have required hospitalisation every day in the last five days. Doctors said that the increase in the number of people contracting Covid in the state has not been significant, with the exception of Mumbai and Thane where a slight increase has been observed.
A senior health official from the public health department said they were expecting of a slight surge in Covid infections due to which they have started to screen patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) for Covid-19, with the focus being on testing, tracing and treatment.
“We have instructed all the medical health officers to continue with three Ts and look for suspect covid or ILI and SARI patients. Moreover, we have instructed them to collect samples of positive cases and sent them for whole genome sequencing,” she said.
Dr Pradeep Awate, the state surveillance officer said there is the movement of people post Navratri due to which there has been a slight surge. Moreover, like all new variants of Omicron, the transmission rate of the virus will increase for a short while. However, it would not be very virulent. “We warned citizens to not let their guard down considering the Diwali festival is around the corner and have advised people to take precautionary steps like observing Covid appropriate behaviour in public and getting vaccinated in accordance with the government guidelines. Special care needs to be taken by people with comorbidities, those with a weakened immune system and those suffering from flu-like illnesses, especially when in public,” he said.
Dr Rahul Pandit, a member of the Covid task force, in Maharashtra, said that is going to be a part of our lives for some time. However, citizens should adhere to Covid norms considering there are new variants of covid infections.
“Unless an entirely new variant comes up, the infectivity and virulence of the Omicron variant will remain low. While we should not restrict any of our day-to-day activities, we should start wearing masks in crowded areas again, especially if you have a family member who is unwell or has low immunity,” he said.
Dr. Vasant Nagvekar, Co-director of Infectious Disease at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital said “Yes, there has been news about this highly infectious omicron variant but we know very little about this variant. We will have to wait and look how it behaves in terms of severity so best keep a close watch, take precautions and go on with our routine.”
